Motorola to work with Phonebloks to build modular smartphones

Ara, Motorola’s open modular smartphone project

Earlier last month, Phonebloks brought the concept of developing your own smartphones with the ability to switch out and replacing or upgrade a hardware component. Motorola will be working with Phonebloks creator Dave Hakkens to create a free open hardware ecosystem that can support third party hardware for individual phone components. Motorola wants to do with smartphone hardware what Android has done with smartphone software.

The design for Project Ara consists of the phone’s endoskeleton (endo) and various modules. The endo which acts as the structural framework of the smartphone will hold all the modules in place. The modules can be anything from a new display or keyboard, to the more unusul pulse oximeter.

The company will be getting community involvement in the process and will reach out to developers to start creating Ara modules. Expect the alpha release of the Module’s Developer’s Kit (MDK) to be released this winter. Those interested can sign-up to be a Project Ara Scout now.